Xavier Pendergast
"Do you know why I've pulled you over today, Ma'am?" -- Xavier, as Tillinghast, arresting speedster Sophie Byrne during the events of Tarot Cards and Armoured Cars "I'm so sorry, Jeanne." Xavier Pendergast is a research physicist working for NASP under the name Tillinghast. He was born in Innsmouth, Massachusetts, and manifested his powers during the Kilmarnock-Loundoun Meteorite Impact Event (also known as the Kilmarnock and Loundoun Event, or the Kilmarnock Event). He moved to Detroit as a member of the original Angels of Detroit team. History Early Life Xavier Pendergast was born in the town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts, to Marianne Pendergast and Steven Pendergast. The economic recession of the 2000s hit shortly thereafter, and as a result, he received no formal schooling for the first few years of his life: the nearest public school was in a neighboring town and his parents could not afford the tuition costs of the local private school, the Gillman School for Science and Math. His father Steven, who had lost his job as a tax lawyer during the recession, tried to homeschool him, but by age twelve it was clear Xavier was on a science path, not a law path, and had read every book in the local library relating to science. Fortunately, Xavier was able to test into the gifted students program of Gillman, and skipped some grades. Also fortunately, his father was able to recertify his specialization into prosecuting white collar crimes and get hired by the federal government, and his mother received a substantial pay raise at the university she taught at, which allowed Xavier to attend college at Devil's Reef, where he met Jeanne, Alyx, and James. After graduating with a bachelor's in Physics, get accepted into MIT. There, he studied for his Masters degree, and it was during a gap year travelling Scotland when the Kilmarnock Event occurred. ---- The Kilmarnock Event Xavier was travelling abroad with some college friends on the 8:30 train from Ayr to Carlisle when an iron meteorite, similar in size to that thought to have caused the Tunguska Event over a century before, exploded approximately five miles above the surface of the Earth and several kilometers north and east of Kilmarnock, throwing debris which struck the train and fell onto the tracks, derailing it. It has remained unclear whether the train was derailed by flying debris and the force of the blast directly or after striking the remains of large trees which had fallen onto the track, however, fuel from the train caught fire shortly afterwards, spreading rapidly over the crash site. Severely burned, Xavier pulled his friends and some others from their passenger car, moving himself and those he was carrying through the burning walls as if they were nothing. However, during his sixth and final attempt to pull more passengers from the burning wreckage, the car buckled and shifted, exposing a previously-buried broken door. Air flowed through the car, creating a backdraft which sent the temperature of the car skyrocketing. With his eyes seared to blindness, Xavier managed to retreat a safe distance from the car, where he collapsed from his injuries and smoke inhallation. Thanks to the timely interaction from a group of Scottish superheroes known as the Saints of Kilmarnock, led by a precognitive Hero who had predicted the blast only an hour before, neither Xavier nor any of the people who escaped the crash site died that day. Xavier, however, had to undergo extensive cybernetic reconstruction surgery, replacing his eyes and adding a tissue-repair implant to him which allowed him to gradually fully heal from his injuries. A number of other implants were also purchased and implanted as part of his reconstruction which have served to make Xavier better than human in many regards without necessarily having any immediate medical benefit, though whomever payed for these implants has remained anonymous as part of the donation to cover Xavier's medical costs. ---- Following Manifestation Xavier returned to the United States following his surgery and completed both his Masters and later his PhD in Physics, later getting hired by defense contractor Hyperion Logistics as a research physicist and engineer. After undergoing several years of therapy and experimenting with his own new superpowers, Xavier decided to try to put his abilities to good use. He applied for and joined NASP, where he was assigned to a newly-formed team in Detroit, Michigan, which would become the Angels of Detroit. ---- Angels of Detroit Xavier has undergone several different reinventions during his time in the Angels of Detroit. Originally called the Valkyrie, Xavier felt his reliance on guns and violence conveyed the wrong message to Detroit and didn't befit a superhero. Instead, by focusing and practicing some of his innate powers, as well as learning some new tricks with his cybernetic implants, Xavier reduced his armory and developed more utility-oriented abilities and devices. The death of "Gerard" deeply shook Xavier, and he worries about the lives of the rest of the team, particularly the younger members. Appearance Xavier is an incredibly tall person, standing at 7 feet and 2 inches tall. He is fairly thin, and his eyes have been replaced with red-tinted cybernetic implants to allow him to see. This can often give him a disconcerting appearance, which is why he usually wears tinted sunglasses when in public. As Tillinghast, Xavier wears a button-down shirt, a black suitcoat and black formal slacks, red tie, a dark-colored duster with his own personal logo emblazoned on it, and a metallic skull mask. Personality Xavier, despite his intimidating appearance, is kind, witty, and highly moral. He wants to be compassionate towards the rest of his team and the world at large.He is a hero because he believes it is the right thing to do. Powers Xavier has three groups of powers: those which are present in his genetics, those which come from his implants, and those which he makes out of devices. ---- Devices * The Stage Gun: A coilgun which accelerates a ferrous bullet into a curve in spacetime, allowing the bullet to exit from any point and in any direction, independent of the direction of the gun, as if the bullet were traveling through portals * Cryogenic Ammunition: This special airburst smart-canister for the Stage Gun carries, instead of a solid bullet, a small amount of super-cooled water, which freezes on contact with a target. They are fired in short bursts generally, but when fired in long bursts they can build up a large amount of ice, potentially freezing a target to the ground or motionless. Due to their fragility and delicate sensors, these cannot be fired through spacetime like regular ferrous slugs can * Sparrow Drone: A drone which Xavier can control through the implants in his brain. The drone carries a camera, a sonic weapon, and manipulator arms designed to perform first-aid. * The Wells Device: A miniaturized deuterium-fluoride laser, useful for fighting and cutting obstacles ---- Implants * Spinal Implant: Xavier's spinal implant is the one that helped him recover from his burns following the Kilmarnock event, which both gives him a sort of natural armor by reinforcing his bodily tissues and largely counteracts the effects of aging. * Ocular Implants: Xavier's Ocular implants function based on a combination of cameras, LIDAR, and RADAR imaging systems. This allows him to see perfectly well regardless of light conditions and, with some focus, he can even see through solid, non-Radar-absorbent materials accurately out to a range of about 60 feet. Past that range, radar reflections and background signal create error, which makes the power unreliable at those ranges. * Cognitive Implants: Xavier has cognitive implants which allow him to communicate over Wifi and remotely access (or hijack) computer systems. He can also use this system to see through cameras he has control over, including the camera on the Sparrow Drone ---- Biological/Innate Powers * Incorporeality: Xavier can become effectively completely Incorporeal by transmuting his normal matter into mirror matter, allowing him to walk through regular, solid matter. He can control this to an incredible degree, allowing him to fully transition, or partially transition into and out of this state. In addition, any item he carries or is wearing in this state is also converted. * Invisibility: Xavier can shift light around him and make himself invisible to sight and light-based sensors. * Mirror Matter Manipulation: Xavier can, aside from transmuting his own matter, collect and control mirror matter, which he can telekinetically throw and convert to normal matter at any point, allowing him to ignore cover. These often take the form of almost-monomolecular shards of a glass-like substance, and are silent and difficult to see.